PDC 2009: Day 2 – silverlight, Free Laptops, and the Underground

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There were several exciting announcements today, but the one that topped the list (at least technology-wise) was the availability of Silverlight 4 Beta.  There’s a lot of new stuff going into Silverlight (I’ll let you read the full “What’s New”), but my favorites:

  • Webcam & microphone support
  • Full print support
  • HTML hosting
  • Full design surface in VS 2010

While ScottGu wowed the crowd with these new capabilities, the loudest applause was bought.  Bought?  Yup, each PDC attendee was given a new multi-touch tablet laptop.  Wow!  (Imagine the line for that!)

That evening, it was time for my regional DPE team to shine.  Many folks from all groups within my West Region had been working for months to put together the Underground at PDC – what has quickly become the definitive party for PDC.  The night didn’t disappoint, hosting over 1,200 people for a 6-hour party featuring repeat demos from PDC keynotes, a Bing search challenge, a technology showcase (I did lots of multi-touch demos with HP TouchSmarts) and lots of giveaways.  Oh, did I mention the actual party!?

HP TouchSmarts - this was my post for the evening..

HP TouchSmarts - this was my post for the evening..

 Joe Shirey & Erin Jacobs. Two key parts of the night's sucess!

Joe Shirey & Erin Jacobs.  Two key parts of the night's success!

 David Chou & Ned Curic. Brilliant minds.

David Chou & Ned Curic.  Brilliant minds.

 Is that THE Tim Huckaby?

Is that THE Tim Huckaby?

 Do you think the PDC geeks were excited to see them arrive?

Do you think the PDC geeks were excited to see them arrive?

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There were masses of tweets that night on Twitter, either mentioning @UndergroundPDC or hashtagging #UGPDC09.

If you attended, thanks for coming and we hope you had a blast (it certainly seemed like you did!).  If you worked there that night, pat yourself on the back.  Everything ran incredibly well!